Bonnie Tyler's Eurovision attempt: A good idea, or career suicide?

Bonnie Tyler has been chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest later this year, it’s a bold move for any famous singer, Engelbert Humperdinck came second from last in the competition in 2012, and it’s fair to say that GB’s recent efforts don’t really seem to be resonating with the rest of Europe.

Bonnie Tyler has been chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest later this year, it’s a bold move for any famous singer, Engelbert Humperdinck came second from last in the competition in 2012, and it’s fair to say that GB’s recent efforts don’t really seem to be resonating with the rest of Europe.

But Bonnie Tyler has a strong fanbase in Europe, and will be performing ‘Believe In Me’, a stonking power ballad, just about cheesy enough to please many of the participating countries in the competition.

Whether the Welsh songstress can add to the tally of five victories for the United Kingdom since our debut in 1957 remains to be seen, the last time the UK won was in 1997, and that’s a long time ago.

Since then, the number of participating countries has grown, and the UK’s decline in the competition coincided with the messy era of post 9/11 politics, although many will tell you that our decline in the competition is due to the fact that we just haven’t had many decent entries in the last decade.

For Bonnie Tyler, it’s a brave mode, there has been a feeling of national embarrassment surrounding the competition for a number of years.

The standard ‘Eurovision’ party involves a group of friends getting together round a TV, drinking enough so that our failure becomes amusing, and then cheering when the UK’s points count finally jumps above nil point.

There’s an awful feeling of deja vu here, and if anything, last year proved that being represented by a big name can actually attract disdain from voting countries. It’s a little bit like cheating, and some would argue that it takes the chance away from an up and coming... er, star.

After the failure in Azerbaijan last year, the usual reactions rolled out from all corners of the UK. The rest of Europe gets accused of voting tactically, or gets accused for voting based on political ties rather than on musical representation.

Other common gripes include citing the amount of money we put into Eurovision, and that most famous one of all: “That country isn’t even in Europe.”

But if Bonnie’s on form, maybe we won’t be saying these common phrases this year.